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Thursday, September 25, 2014

Interesting study in Blackwork

Another band completed - a most interesting study in working out the pathways to achieve the patterning on both front and back -  reversible blackwork is always fun for me.  I enjoy working out the pathways to achieve reversibility which in my mind is the intriguing aspect of Holbein stitch and perhaps the reason so many samplers show this stitch historically.  For example,  the pineapple area could have been one involving a lot of counting if worked horizontally or vertically...however, working it diagonally made it easy and the pattern developed almost automatically. 
Hope to get this sampler done by the end of the month (end of the week ideally)... 
changed the yellow green color - different dyelot/same color because I thought I would run out of the brighter yellow green.  Worked out fine in this case because the darker dyelot stands out more.  Added the lighter yellow green as filling stitches.

The above picture shows the bands left to go - the one above this band and a bit more left to go on the band below.  Turns out I did have enough of the original brighter yellow green dyelot but because I was not sure I decided to blend in the new darker shade by distributing it through these remaining bands... in a way the darker shade stands out more in the blackwork area so it all works out anyway.

4 comments:

Krista said...

Quite amazing work, Nupur! I love blackwork but I know mine is not reversible!

llknbillburg said...

This is such a beautiful sampler and I have been so intrigued with it as you progressed that I knew I had to have it. Luckily, I checked my stash before I ordered it and it seems I already have it, just the chart. The colors in the picture seem so much more washed out than the piece you are working. Did you change your colors and if so would you be willing to share?? Thanks, Laura

kiwimeskreations said...

Nupur I too love the challenge of making blackwork truly reversable - so glad to see I am not the only one. Your work is stunning,
Blessings
Maxine

Nupur said...

Thanks for all your kind comments - glad you are enjoying this sampler!
Laura, I addressed the color issues in my post today (9/26/2014)... glad you have this sampler in your stash... I had bought this a long while ago and then it stayed in my UFO drawer for years... glad I decided to use my 'frozen shoulder period' of time to work on finishing up some of the samplers in my stash. All the other embroidery requires more of a range of arm movement but I am really missing it now...
Email me with any other questions you may have Laura...